After what felt like an eternity (actually only a week) of deadlines and stress I was more than ready for this little weekend away in Budapest with another English living Salzburg! We had a pretty easy ride to Budapest as you can get a direct train from here though it is a five hour journey... but still, I find trains way more enjoyable than planes so wasn't complaining and with company the time didn't drag massively. We stayed two nights in the Corinthia Hotel which was beautiful and very central. The spas in Budapest are very famous and luckily for us the hotel had one! After a long day walking the sauna was perfect to relax in.

Some of the buildings in Budapest really blew me away especially their parliament which you can see in the first picture. Google a picture of it at night too.. so beautiful! Buda castle was also amazing (Lord of the Rings vibes) and has beautiful views of the city. There's a little cafe near the castle where we had amazing apple cinnamon punch and hot chocolate! I definitely recommend going there to warm up if you visit in winter. The cathedral was also beautiful outside and in, which you can see in the last picture. I found the city so peaceful and relaxing when wandering around I guess because it wasn't that busy.

Budapest has a beautiful island park which we walked through and I hope you can tell how peaceful it is there from the picture above. The whole city was generally like this in places you'd think would be full of tourists but the bars and restaurants were busy and fun in the evenings so really a perfect mixture. In summer it may be completely different, has anyone been? Somehow we managed to miss out on trying Hungarian cuisine which was a shame. We also missed the ruined pubs so I will definitely have to go back one day! In about a weeks time I'm moving back to England so all these beautiful places that are so easy to get to from Salzburg won't be so close which is sad but I have got flights booked to come back and visit. I've also got a trip to Prague planned so look out for that if you're interested!! I'm going to try to make sure the travel content doesn't disappear!

Finally on that regular posting game *pats self on the back*..! And today, as promised in my last post, I want to share with you my favourite and most used Essie nail varnishes. I was a little late to the Essie bandwagon having received my first one as a gift from Silvana in August of last year but I've made up for it since.. the Essie colour range, as you all know, is pretty extensive meaning I always find a new, beautiful shade I need! The formula never disappoints, especially with these three which I can easily get away with applying only one coat! So now that I understand what I've been missing I don't mind (as much) paying £8 for one bottle.. still not as pricey as OPI nail varnish which retails for £12.50. I buy mine in the airport for the slight discount!

I find applying nail varnish such a chore and even though these are reasonably fast drying I have to mention the Mavala Oil Seal Dryer, a recent discovery! It's a miracle liquid, after applying the oil my nails dry in literally two seconds! Google reviews if you need more convincing that this is a worthwhile purchase. You'll definitely be thanking me! But back to Essie, as I said they are reasonably fast drying on their own (even with two layers) and also very chip resistant on my nails which is impressive because nothing usually lasts on them. What are your favourite Essie shades? I'm wondering if I should try their bottom or top coats, have any of you? Let me know in the comments! And I hope you're all having a wonderful start to the new year!!!

Somehow during this years Christmas rush I managed to escape my family for a few days and take a little trip to Italy! No idea how I managed that but I'm hoping it'll happen again soon as it was an amazing break from it all though I now do have holiday blues. But thankfully I have a couple of trips planned for 2016 to look forward to which is very exciting (thankyou student loan!). Back to Italy, specifically Venice! I stayed in San Marco which is definitely an ideal location for sightseeing and for generally experiencing the wonderful active atmosphere of the city. The streets are constantly full of people as are the canals full of gondolas and the typical wintery fog Venice gets in December made the whole place feel very mythical and even disney like!

Compared to a city like London there aren't many specific sights you should see in Venice though the Bridge of Sighs, which you can see in the picture above, is definitely one. The history of the bridge is very interesting, it earned it's name from the sighing prisoners who were once transported across to the nearby prison. Another place you have to visit and really can't avoid anyway is San Marco Square. Here you'll find the impressive St Mark's Basilica which is possibly one of the most beautiful cathedrals I've ever seen. You can see the ornate decoration of the roof in the picture below. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to go inside so it's made it's way on to my bucket list as I'm sure it will blow me away as much or even more as the outside did!

Another thing worth doing in the main square is going to the top of St Mark's Campanile, the massive tower you wont be able to miss it. The views from there of the whole city and the neighbouring islands are spectacular and I was very lucky that the fog cleared for last two days of my visit as when visibility is poor, the tower closes. A typical tourist attraction is of course the gondolas but I didn't end up going on one as they were very expensive (€80-€100). I regret my decision a bit now which makes me want to go back even more. I enjoyed Peggy Guggenheims collection though that's more of a specific activity for art lovers. Lastly I have to mention the food.. because wow.. it was good. Specifically one restaurant called Aciugheta. I went back three times to this place... the sea food was perfect, the pizza was perfect all the deserts were perfect! The baker and the pastry chef prepare everything fresh and their kitchens are mixed with the dining areas so you can see everything being made. The staff were all super friendly and it wasn't overpriced like many of the restaurants in the city! I can't wait to go back to Italy, definitely discovered a favourite country on this trip! Hope you like the pictures and post!!

I don't know about you guys, but for me post holiday blues have definitely set in and the closer it comes to going back to uni the more I want Christmas to happen all over again. So to try and combat this feeling I thought I'd share with you some pictures I took at the beginning of December. Somehow my friend Teuta and I managed to visit thirteen Christmas markets in one weekend all around west Germany. We visited Dusseldorf, Bonn, Aachen and of course the most famous place for Christmas markets; Cologne. Unsurprisingly I loved every second and I don't think I've ever been in more of a festive mood than I was in the lead up to Christmas this year. And really, how could anyone who had visited these beautiful places not be?

Each Christmas market has a different theme, some stars or angels, others elves or St. Nicolas so the subtleties of each made it so worth while visiting them all! I have a few particular favourites including the Witch market in Aachen and the Father Christmas market in Cologne which I would recommend visiting though if you're staying in any of these cities it is really easy to get a train to another for the day as they're all very close together so really see as many as possible as there maybe one you like more! Definitely try crepes and waffles too as they're so good in Germany (especially compared to the ones in Winter Wonderland!) and also have as much mulled wine and cider/ gluwein and glumost as possible!! The best I had was at the Father Christmas market in Rudolfplatz, Cologne. Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and a happy New Year and hope I've managed to prolong that festive feeling in a few of you!! My next post will be a travel bit on my Christmas break in Venice!!